Grandfather clause

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In American English, a grandfather clause, or grandfather rule, is an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply instead in all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to "grandfather in" means to grant such an exemption. For example, a "grandfathered power plant" may be exempt from tougher pollution laws.

Often, such a provision is used as a compromise, to effect new rules without upsetting a well-established physical or political situation. As well as being "grandfathered in" to avoid suffering new penalties, people may be "grandfathered in" to receive new benefits they are not otherwise entitled to. For example, if a company has a pension plan and then after a certain date the benefits get better but the already-retired get the benefits, then one might say they were "grandfathered in". This amounts to the same thing as being "retroactively applied".

Origin

The original grandfather clauses were contained in the Jim Crow laws used from 1890 to 1910 in seven of the Southern United States to prevent blacks, Native Americans and certain whites from voting. Earlier prohibitions on such voting in place prior to 1870 were nullified by the Fifteenth Amendment. In response, these states passed laws requiring poll taxes and/or supposed literacy tests from would-be voters. An exemption to these requirements was made for all persons allowed to vote before the American Civil War, and any of their descendants.

A strict application of such laws would disenfrachise some whites, and sometimes did so in early years. However, as time passed, states with Jim Crow laws chose not to enforce them against any whites.

These laws had the effect of disenfranchising blacks, but not whites, until the ratification of the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and a 1966 Supreme Court ruling that eliminated most legal barriers to black voting.

In spite of its origins, today the term "grandfather clause" does not retain any pejorative sense.

Examples from the US

The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution specified term limits for future presidents, but did not apply to the president (Truman) in office when Congress passed it. Truman sought the Democratic nomination for a third term in 1952, but abandoned his campaign after a defeat in the opening New Hampshire primary.
Fire sprinklers are required in all new buildings – but due to the great expense of having older ones retrofitted, they are generally exempt unless and until they are renovated. Such an exception proved deadly to 100 people in 2003 at the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island, and gutted a large part of an older high-rise office building in the Peachtree 25th fire in Atlanta in 1989.
Zoning laws often grandfather in existing buildings or other uses, such as when an area is rezoned from residential to commercial, and the existing home on the lot need not be torn down or converted.
Existing toll roads were allowed to become part of the Interstate highway system in the U.S., even though no new Interstates could (at the time) have tolls.
Older roads and trails, such as the National Road, Dixie Highway and Lincoln Highway, were grandfathered into the U.S. Highway system in 1926.
Early Internet RFCs which were de facto standards were grandfathered into the official IETF Internet standard process.
The FCC has required all radio stations licensed in the United States since the 1930s to have four-letter callsigns starting with a W (for stations east of the Mississippi River) or a K (for stations west of the Mississippi River). However, stations with three-letter callsigns and stations west of the Mississippi River starting with a W (plus KDKA, KQV and KYW in Pennsylvania) licensed before the 1930s have been permitted to keep their callsigns.
In the 1970's, WTBS in Atlanta, Georgia, which broadcast Atlanta Braves baseball games, became a Superstation now known as TBS, allowing people outside the Atlanta market to view Braves games. With certain rules in effect by Major League Baseball, teams are no longer allowed to be broadcast out of market unless available in a package. The only other teams grandfathered in are the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs, which broadcast a majority of their games on Chicago's WGN-TV, which is both the city's WB (soon to be The CW) affiliate and (with a separate feed) a superstation. WWOR-TV in New York City once offered national telecasts of New York Mets games during the 1980s and 1990s, but is no longer allowed to do so.
Major League Baseball retired the number 42 worn by Jackie Robinson in 1997 in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of his first MLB appearance, which broke the sport's 20th-century color line. Players who wore #42 at that time were allowed to continue wearing the number for the remainder of their careers; the most notable player affected by this clause is Mariano Rivera, who is now the only player still wearing the number. The National Basketball Association has considered retiring the number 23 worn by Michael Jordan; so far, only the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat have actually done so, though other NBA teams are talking about following suit. Currently, LeBron James wears #23, and even if all NBA teams do retire it, he would most likely be allowed to continue wearing that number until his retirement.
Major League Baseball also allowed pitchers who had been throwing the spitball to continue throwing it for the rest of their careers after it was banned in 1920.
When Major League Baseball mandated that hitters wear batting helmets in 1971, it remained optional for players who were already in the league. Bob Montgomery of the Boston Red Sox was the last player to bat without a helmet, in 1979. When Major League Baseball mandated that batting helmets have at least one earflap in 1983, it too remained optional for existing league players. Gary Gaetti of the Boston Red Sox was the last player to bat while wearing the no ear flap helmet, in the year 2000.
In 1977, the American League required all new umpires to use the inside chest protector, which had been used for decades in the National League. Umpires who had been on staff prior to 1977 could continue to use the outside chest protector. Jerry Neudecker was the last American League umpire to wear the outside chest protector, retiring after the 1985 season.
The National Football League mandates that ownership groups of its franchises have no more than 10 members, and that one owner have at least 30% ownership. When the NFL established this policy, it grandfathered in the unique community-based ownership scheme of the Green Bay Packers, in which thousands of individuals owned shares. The Packers made a second stock offering in 1997 and 1998, which expanded the number of owners to over 100,000. Currently, no individual owner may hold more than 200,000 of the roughly 4.8 million Packers shares outstanding.
The National Hockey League mandated that all incoming players to the NHL had to wear helmets in 1979. However, players who signed their first professional contract with an NHL team prior to 1979 mandate were free from compliance. Craig MacTavish was the last player in the NHL to have used this rule exemption.
The NCAA prohibits schools in its Division III from offering athletic scholarships. However, eight Division III members that had competed at the highest level of specific sports before the tiering of schools into divisions are allowed to award scholarships in one men's sport and one women's sport. (If all divisions are combined into one for a sport, the rule does not apply.)
Also, the NCAA has banned artificial surfaces for football whose color is anything other than green. However, Boise State University is allowed to retain the unique blue artificial surface at Bronco Stadium, which it had installed several years before the NCAA ruling.
NASCAR banned advertising from wireless telephone companies in 2004 for its premier series, effective a new ten-year sponsorship contract with Sprint Nextel. However, Alltel and Cingular, both of whom had sponsored teams in 2003, were allowed to retain their sponsorships, with some restrictions applying (cannot switch teams).

Grandfather clause

Origin

Examples from the US

See also